JEDDAH, 14
November 2006 — The Archbishop of York, the second-highest figure in the Church
of England, waded into the row over Muslim veils yesterday saying they did not
conform to “norms of decency.”

In an interview
published in the British Daily Mail newspaper, John Sentamu questioned whether
British Muslim women should expect public acceptance for wearing the veil.
“Muslim scholars would say three things. First, does it conform to norms of
decency? Secondly, does it render you more secure? And thirdly, what kind of
Islam are you projecting by wearing it?” he said, adding, “On the first question
I don’t think it does conform.”

The
Ugandan-born 57-year-old archbishop said he removed his cross when visiting a
mosque or a synagogue and covered his head in Sikh temples “because I am going
into someone else’s home.”

“And I can’t
simply say: ‘Take me as I am, whether you like it or not.’ I think the thing is
in British society you can wear what you want, but you can’t expect British
society to be reconfigured around you. No minority can expect to impose this on
the public or civic life,” he continued.

Sentamu’s
comments are seen to be in stark contrast to the view of the head of the Church
of England, Archbishop Rowan Williams, who has publicly defended the right to
wear veils.

Women in Saudi
Arabia and the UK — those who wear and don’t wear the niqab and hijab —
criticized Sentamu’s comments. “What is this fixation with what we wear or don’t
wear,” said Wafa Ahmad, a Jeddah-based teacher, who does not wear the niqab or
hijab outside the Kingdom.

“Why doesn’t
the world take off the veil inside their head and stop this obsession with what
is worn over the head... why does the West feel so threatened by women covering
or not covering their faces or heads? I don’t get it.”

A professor at
the King Saud University’s Women’s Section, said: “What norm of decency is the
archbishop talking about? Modesty or head covering was there in Christianity and
is there in Judaism. Why all the focus on Muslim covering?”

A faculty
member at the Imam Mohammad ibn Saud University in Riyadh said, “I say to the
Western society, isn’t it they who preach to us, on and on about personal
freedom? About open-mindedness and acceptance of differences?”

However, a
local Saudi businessman said that when in Rome do as the Romans do. “One of my
daughters practices hijab but I believe that the whole purpose of it is to not
attract attention. So she dresses to blend in, occasionally using a bandana or
hat... People know she’s Muslim because her head is always covered,” he said.

In the UK,
Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, said it was terribly
sad that a Christian leader would seek to stoke the fires of Islamophobia. “To
say a veil is not ‘decent’ is nonsensical. Why should everyone conform to the
same dress code? Nobody prevents Dr. Sentamu from dressing in a frock as a
cleric. He should mind his own business.”

London-based
journalist Isla Rosser-Owen, wondered whether Archbishop Sentamu would apply the
same logic to Catholic nuns. “In the more traditional orders, many of their
headdresses cover not just their hair but also quite a lot of the face. Would he
ask them the same questions?”

Niqab-clad
British university student Ayesha Mohammed described some of Sentamu’s comments
as political correctness gone mad.

“He would take
his cross off to go to a mosque. Fair enough, but he isn’t expected to and no
Muslim would be offended if he didn’t. That’s political correctness gone mad.”

She added,
“Muslims are not asking to change the country. Maybe a small minority wants
Shariah law, but the vast majority just wants to be able to lead their lives as
Muslims.”

Describing the
debate on the veil as a “witch-hunt,” Michael Lavalette, lecturer at a
university in Liverpool and member of the Respect party, said: “Hardly a day
goes by without another series of attacks on Britain’s Muslim community... the
debate is not really about the veil, it’s about the media, politicians and
establishment spokespeople lashing out against a vulnerable minority.”

Political
activist Sufia Makkan said: “In a society where short mini skirts and skimpy
tops are accepted as the ‘norm,’ it is unfathomable that someone in the position
of Archbishop of York should make comments about a piece of material across the
face as not conforming to ‘norms of decency.”

Vinay J., a
Manchester-based journalist for the Asian Leader said: “The veil issue has been
done to death. So much has been written, discussed and argued about it that I’ve
lost interest in a healthy debate all together.”

Sunny Hundal,
the editor of the online magazine Asians in Media, felt that the bishop was
contradicting himself. “We have freedom of expression in Britain and the veil is
part of that expression — people may not agree with it but they should be
allowed to wear what they want, except when it directly interferes with their
work or at school where open identification is needed,” he said.

Ismail Patel,
chair of the Leicester-based Friends of Al-Aqsa lobby group, applauded Sentamu
for taking the initiative in understanding Islamic reflections on issues such as
the niqab but said he was misjudged. “The veil is not about obscurity of the
individual wearing it; but rather it is about an individual’s own conviction in
God and their belief that it is a religious requirement,” he said.

He added: “I do
not believe that Muslim women who wear the niqab are saying ‘take me as I am
whether you like it or not’. They are saying ‘respect me for my personal
choices’, and most people in Britain would.”

Last month,
former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw began a debate on Muslim veils when he
revealed that he asked women visiting his clinic to remove their veils.

Many political
commentators see the British Labour Party’s fixation with the face veil as a way
of attracting votes in the run-up to elections next year.

Meanwhile,
advice was issued by immigration tribunals chief, Lord Chief Justice Hodge, that
legal advisers and solicitors may wear the veil in court unless it interferes
with the “interests of justice.”

The advice comes after a judge recently stopped a hearing
after ordering legal adviser, Shabnam Mughal, who has been wearing the veil for
two years, to remove her veil during an immigration tribunal in Stoke-on-Trent.
The case resumed again yesterday with Mughal being taken off the case by her
firm and a different judge appointed to preside over it.